Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

We need to be forensic in determining what went wrong and how the Government blew €500 million of the public's money on this hospital, €500 million more than what was indicated in the contract in February 2017. At a meeting of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach on 5 February, I asked Deputy Donohoe to provide to the committee a detailed account of the drawings and how advanced they were when the contract was agreed in February 2017. Every expert I talk to about this issue says the Government's fatal mistake was agreeing a contract on the basis of drawings that were little more than planning design drawings. Anyone would know that a contract should be concluded on the basis of the most detailed drawings, including equipment and IT. It is not easy being a Minister, as one is there learning the ropes. Unfortunately, however, we had a Minister who let go of the key rope. This ship has sailed around for the last two years adding costs for the Irish taxpayer.

We need to be forensic about the political aspect of this issue. The Minister for Health knew that his predecessor, the Taoiseach himself, had said the only reason this hospital would not open in 2020 would be if an asteroid were to hit Ireland. As such, he may have been under a certain amount of pressure to deliver. All of us here know that Deputies were being met in the coffee dock every day by people lobbying them to put the site in Blanchardstown or at Connolly Hospital instead. Facing the threat of judicial review, there was pressure to sign this quickly and get the deal done. As reported that day the Government agreed a contract worth €950 million, admitting at the time that IT and equipment might cost another couple of hundred million euro. Any quantity surveyor, developer or construction expert of note to whom I have spoken has said that was a fatal mistake. As a result, the main contractor and every subcontractor had the Government over a barrel for the additional €500 million that ensued. Can the Taoiseach give me some sense of this, being specific and precise? I do not want to hear about the number of beds and the benefits, yakety yak. I want to hear why the Minister made the decision to issue a planning contract on the basis of planning drawings rather than the drawings every expert I have spoken to says are needed to cost a hospital. Why did that happen?

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